last day in metz

On my last night in the village we had a cake from Taposa. Emma, the woman MmaDiapo has hired to help with things around the house, won R1,000 in a women's running competition and used R50 of it to get a "Goodbye Mmapula" cake. While sipping juice and eating tons of icing, Maite came over to sit with me, said she wanted to tell me a story. Earlier in the week, while they were all sitting on their back stoop, Karabo crossed her legs and was genuinely confused when the family seemed to be amused. "Karabo! Where did you learn such a thing? Are you a lekgowa (white person)? Only white people sit with their legs crossed, we Africans sit with our legs straight in front of us." "I'm not a lekgowa! I saw Mmapula sit like this! I'm just sitting like Mmapula." "Mmapula is a lekgowa, she is white." "No, no, Mmapula is just like me, she is just like you." Maite said she and Margaret were so excited that Karabo would think such a thing... think that I was no different than her in any way, that I was one of the family. That was the perfect end to my chapter in Metz. I know there were a lot of things I wanted to accomplish when I found myself in Peace Corps and in my village, but those things were constantly changing during my service. Now that it's the end, I see that I was pretty successful with my service and am most proud of all the relationships I made and cultivated during my time here. I have friends, family, and a place for life in a little, rural, South African Village.


I left good ol' Metz 3 days ago and it's been a whirlwind of activity ever since.
I'm not sure what all is going to come in the future, what directions I will turn and take, but I'm really, really glad I did this and stuck it out until the very end. There are new adventures ahead. New people to know. Old friends and family to keep in touch with. Food to eat. Bowling and dancing to do. Beautiful places to see. Thank you for this life.

This is Mmapula Phokungwane signing off in Metz Village and South Africa for the last time. Stay tuned for updates on the adventure of transition back to America!

Final Result

This winter, because it would get dark so early, I spent a good chunk of time making not one, but TWO blankets with the colors of the South African flag...black, green, white, red, yellow, and blue. One for me and one for MmaDiapo as a thank you gift. I sent my finished blanket home with June in her big ol' suitcase and presented MmaDiapo with hers tonight. It's about 5'5" by 5'5", wasn't made off of any kind of pattern, and I couldn't tell you how many skeins I used. I think it turned out pretty well!

A Little Heart

Thanks to so many giving people that I am lucky to know in the States some pretty awesome things have been able to happen while I've been living in Metz.
My Uncle Hansford, who lives in Gueydan, gave me a little bit of money to do something for my village, and with the help of my high school English teacher, Cohen, I was able to successfully support The Women's Literacy Group of Metz with new school supplies! This is a group of women that comes together under the mango trees in MmaLetsoalo's yard three afternoons a week. They are learning to read and write in their mother tongue, Sotho.
I spent one lovely afternoon with their teacher, Maggy, at her house, hanging out with her family, and going through all the supplies I was able to buy.
Here's Maggy with some of her grandchildren and some of the supplies that were purchased.
And here's the amazing traditional meal we ate together after we had our meeting. At one point, Maggy looked at her daughter and said, "I am eating with my friend Mmapula and it is so nice for my heart."

I told Maggy that people at home wanted to help me support projects in Metz. Her literacy class has done so much for the ladies and we wanted to do a little something to help her be able to teach them just a little bit better. Each student was given a plastic folder with a new notebook, pens, Gueydan Museum pencils, a sharpener, an eraser, and a pencil bag to keep everything organized. A whiteboard with new markers, a filing system, and two books for Math and Writing were given to the teacher.
Some of the money was also used to buy World and Africa maps for the Kodumela office and all 7 of the drop in centers.
Rejoice, June, and I all drove to all the centers to hang them up and give the cookers and kids little lessons in geography. I can't tell you how awesome it was to see kids really interested... and how cool it is to sit in the office and watch people try to find places in the world, have discussions about locations on the maps, and ask me questions about different countries and continents. HUGE!

SO many people are touched by the generosity. It's pretty neat when you think about how much we're all working together.